Sunday, March 1, 2015

Languages in Austria

There is a large range of languages spoken in Austria. Officially the language is German, however it is only spoken by 88% of the population. Croatian, Slovene, and Hungarian are official languages in specific cities, however their percentage of usage ranges between 0.2-1.5%. Then throughout the rest of the country you can see the usage of Serbian, Turkish, Czech, Slovak, Yiddish, Romany, and other immigrant languages can be seen smattered across the country. I searched for a map to show the range of where these languages are spoken in Austria, however none were available. I was able to find a map showing the usage of Germanic and Slavic. As you can see the usage of Slavic is not very prominent, mostly on the eastern and southern edges of Austria.
(To view map clearly double click to enlarge.)
http://www.ethnologue.com/map/AT 
It's very clear that Austria has a wide range of languages spoken in it, and this is due to the surrounding countries with their individual cultures, as people cross borders languages are shared, and some stay and become used more and more popularly. This can be seen in most other European countries as well.
The photo shown above is that of a traditional Austrian folk band, which can be seen at festivals throughout the country. The culture from Austria is largely based in Germanic as German is the main language, and German is the largest ethnic group in the country. The two countries hold a strong kinship with one another.

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